Google’s first data center satellite is online and writing poetry
The satellite carries four TPUs, but power limits allow just one to run for about 20 minutes at a time.
After roughly three weeks of commissioning, Google’s Suncatcher prototype used its onboard Gemma 4 model to write a space haiku and report on nearby orbital conditions. Engineers will now test how its chips handle thermal stress and radiation, which can corrupt stored data through bit flips. Ground tests suggested radiation would pose fewer problems for inference than for model training. If the chips prove capable in orbit, Google plans to launch two more satellites in 2027 with greater power generation and optical links between them.
TechCrunch AI's note
After roughly three weeks of commissioning, Google’s Suncatcher prototype used its onboard Gemma 4 model to write a space haiku and report on nearby orbital conditions. Engineers will now test how its chips handle thermal stress and radiation, which can corrupt stored data through bit flips. Ground tests suggested radiation would pose fewer problems for inference than for model training. If the chips prove capable in orbit, Google plans to launch two more satellites in 2027 with greater power generation and optical links between them.
TechCrunch AI's note
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